Americans are worried about the chemicals in their food, and some politicians are expressing the same concerns. In January, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asserted that the food supply is “poisoning” people, while Dr. Marty Makary, the new Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said during his Senate hearing in early March that chemical additives in food are “drugging our nation’s children at scale.” He promised to “look at” chemicals as causes for inflammation and disease.
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Just 150 years ago, most food came from local farms and markets down the road from people’s homes. Today, it materializes from thousands of miles away, filled with cryptic, unpronounceable ingredients, many of them chemicals. Research points to potential consequences. “There is extensive evidence that synthetic chemicals, unintentionally and intentionally added to food, contribute to chronic disease across the lifespan,” says Dr. Leonardo Trasande, professor of pediatrics at NYU School of Medicine.
He and other experts want people to know the risks of chemicals in food and what to do about them.
Why are there so many chemicals in our food supply?
Companies can add risky chemicals to food without independent tests to find out if they’re safe for consumption. It’s done without FDA approval through a loophole in federal regulations called the Generally Recognized As Safe exemption, or GRAS.
This means the chemicals are innocent—and free to enter your diet—until proven guilty. “About 10,000 chemicals have been added to foods, many of them under GRAS,” Trasande says.
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In January, the FDA ruled one of these chemicals guilty, a coloring agent called Red Dye No. 3. It had been in food since the 1960s. The FDA’s decision came about 25 years after the dye was banned from cosmetics due to links to cancer.
Trasande wasn’t impressed by the ban. “It’s a drop in the bucket,” he says. “We need a system change.”
A long list of potentially problematic food additives
The ban on Red Dye No. 3 won’t take effect until 2027. Anticipating this lag, legislators in a dozen states including West Virginia and Oklahoma are attempting to move more quickly to forbid sale of food with the dye and other chemicals linked to illnesses like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
Many chemicals are problematic because they can disrupt the endocrine system. “The evidence is greatest about the effects of chemicals on our hormones, underlying basic biological functions,” Trasande says. “When you mess with the thyroid, you’re messing with everything—the heart, brain, muscle, and bone.”
“A significant number of currently permitted additives are potentially having very considerable long-term effects,” based on animal research and large population studies in people, says Dr. John Warner, a pediatrics professor at Imperial College, London, who studies these additives.
These disruptive chemical ingredients include butylated hydroxyanisole, or BHA, and butylated hydroxytoluene, or BHT. Both are synthetic antioxidants inserted into processed foods to delay spoilage. Another endocrine disruptor is titanium dioxide, a chemical that whitens baked goods, candy, and some dairy products like creamers. In 2022, the EU banned titanium dioxide, but the U.S. still allows it.
Another chemical in baked goods, potassium bromate, has been listed under California’s Proposition 65 as a carcinogen since 1990, says Tasha Stoiber, senior scientist at the nonprofit Environmental Working Group.
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There’s also concern about chemicals called emulsifiers, which thicken foods, and others like aspartame that artificially sweeten everything from yogurts to soda. Warner notes research showing an association between emulsifiers and heart disease, while the WHO has classified aspartame as “possibly carcinogenic.”
Because these chemicals are found mostly in processed foods, a great way to reduce exposure is by eating whole foods instead, Stoiber advises. “We stress that people try to incorporate fruits and vegetables in their diets as much as possible,” she says.
Stoiber says that food labeled organic comes with the added benefit of fewer pesticides—which also disrupt the endocrine system. EWG’s guide outlines foods most likely to be tainted by pesticides if they’re not organic. (Strawberries and spinach top their list.)
Certain nutrients in whole foods, such as omega 3s, actually help offset the effects of synthetic chemicals, explains Dr. Aly Cohen, an integrative rheumatologist and author of Detoxify. She says that exercise also helps manage toxins by improving microbiome health. “Combined with the right nutrition, regular exercise can help break down chemicals,” Cohen says.
When buying processed foods, apps like EWG Healthy Living, Clearya, and Yuka can identify products with red-flag chemicals and other products that substitute healthier ingredients. Instead of Red Dye No. 3, for example, some companies use natural ingredients like dehydrated strawberry powder. Cohen advises patients—and her teenage sons—to frequent store brands and chains offering plenty of app-approved foods.
Chemicals in food packaging
Food sold in plastic pouches and clingy wraps could be tainted by yet more endocrine-disrupting chemicals like BPA, phthalates, bisphenols, and PFAS. “They’re heavily used in plastic food packaging” and can leach into food, Trasande explains.
These chemicals are linked to hormonal imbalances, reproductive issues, and diseases like metabolic disorders and cancer. Phthalates, for instance, are associated with heart disease. Research on the harms of chemicals in plastic is compelling, Trasande says.
Processed foods come into especially heavy contact with plastic. They’re also linked to chronic diseases, and “quite a bit of that is likely due to chemicals in plastic used to process those foods,” Trasande says. For example, soda and deli meats may be contaminated by plastic processing equipment like tubes and conveyor belts.
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Again, opting for fresh fruits and vegetables can help. “They’re a great way to bypass the food packaging,” Trasande says. “A little bit of me dies when I see cucumbers in a plastic container.” Choose items in the chilled produce aisles free of containers, and put them in your cloth bags.
Beware chemicals in other containers beside plastics, such as aluminum can linings. “Avoiding canned food consumption is important,” Trasande says. “We know that bisphenols can reabsorb from canned linings right into food, spiking levels with chemicals that contribute to obesity.” BPA has been increasingly phased out of cans used for food, but it’s more likely to be present in canned beverages. There is also ambiguity about the safety of ingredients used as substitutes for BPA in these cans, says Samara Geller, EWG’s senior director of consumer safety science.
PFAS, chemicals used for their non-stick properties in aluminum and plastic, are also associated with cancer.
At home, you can transfer food from these packages to glass and stainless steel containers, and use these materials for cooking as well.
Who is most at risk?
Everyone should limit exposure, but some have higher risk than others. Trasande has studied the effects of food additives on kids. There could be consequences for brain development in babies, he says. “Pregnant women and young children are more sensitive to thyroid disruption.”
A research review by the state of California found that food dyes impair learning and memory in kids. Warner has been involved in other research showing that food colorings, mixed with certain preservatives, “had adverse effects on children’s behavior,” he says.
Warner adds that direct research is needed in humans to confirm the harms of both food additives and other chemicals leaching into food. So far, studies point to associations with diseases, but “cause and effect has not been proven,” partly because people who consume less food additives probably have an overall healthier lifestyle, he says. “Is it only fresh foods being good, or additives being bad? I suspect both.”
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In an email to TIME.com, a representative of the Consumer Brands Association said the food and beverage industries “are committed to maintaining the integrity of America’s food supply and consumer transparency.”
Patrick Krieger, senior VP of sustainability and policy for the Plastics Industry Association, wrote that the industry is dedicated to “ensuring that plastic is the most suitable and responsible choice for every application in which it is used.” He noted support for FDA efforts to evaluate the safety of food packaging. Plastic is a “safe material,” he wrote.
But some researchers think the impacts of chemical exposures reverberate throughout one’s lifetime. According to Trasande, the effects can occur in very low amounts. “We’ve not found safe levels,” he says. Suspected consequences include the rise of cancer in young adults, Stoiber says, and more frequent immune and autoimmune conditions, Cohen adds.
In the battle against food chemicals, Cohen advises patients to be calm and practical. Rather than taking extreme measures, think logically about your highest exposures, and focus there. Eat foods that contain added sweeteners and emulsifiers every day? Try reducing them. “When you make smarter food choices, you’re offsetting your risk,” Cohen says.